Mine-timber.



No. 692,1". Patented Ian. 28, I902.

n w. snumou. mm: TIMBER.

(Application filed Oct. 16, 1901.

2 Shear-Sheet I.

(\No Model.)

No. a92,m. Patented Jan. 23, I902.

'0 Wn-BRUNTON.

MINE TIMBER.

(Application filed Oct. 16, 1901.) (No Model.) 2 Sheets$hegt 2.

NITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

DAVID \V. BRUNTON, OF'DENVER, COLORADO.

MINE-TIIMBER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent N 0. 692,11 1, dated January 28, 1902.

Application filed October 16, 1901- Serial No. 7tl,866- (No model-l T0 aIZZ whom, it may concern.-

Be it known that I, DAVID W. BRUNTON, a subject of the King of Great Britain, (having declared my intention of becoming a citizen of the United States,) residing at Denver, in the county of Arapahoe and State of Colorado, have invented a certain new and useful Improvementin Mine-Timbers, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description. In mining operations in order to support the stopes in large veins after the ore has been mined, so as to prevent the walls from crushing and the ore from falling down, various methods of timber-framing have been adopted. In one method square-set timbers have been used; but such timbers possess the dis advantage of being of limited application. For example, it is necessary in working along a vein to use timber of a uniform size, as otherwise the joints will not fit. If the hardness of the walls inclosing the veins were equal at all points, such a system of framing would be entirely practicable; but it is a fact that the vein-walls are never uniform, and hence it is often necessary to use heavier timbers in some parts of the mine than in others, and this involves considerable trouble and expense in fitting together the timbers of different sizes at the line of junction. Another method has been to use round timbers or logs, and these possess the advantage over sawed timber of greater resistance to decay. In practical effect a round log has nearly twice the strength of the square stick which can be sawed out of it, and hence various attempts have been made to use round timbers for underground work, and while the round timbers prove very satisfactory in some resp'ects the method of framing heretofore employed robs the round stick of a great deal of its strength and makes it almost impossible to change from one size to another Without a very considerable amount of expensive end framing at the line of junction. Ordinarilythe round sticks have their ends squared up to form the timber-joint, and this leaves the segmental portion of the log outside of the squared ends entirely unsupported, and as a result when such framing is exposed to pressure to an extent suflicient to produce bending the unsupported segmental portions split away from the squared ends, and thus materially weaken the support.

It is the object of my invention to utilize round timber in the form of logs and to so cut the ends for the formation of the joints as to insure contact throughout the entire perimeter of the adjacent ends of the logs.

. To this end my invention consistsin minetimbers having their ends cut to form joints substantially coextensive with the perimeters of the jointed timbers, as I will proceed now more particularly to set forth and claim.

, Intheaccompanyingdrawings, illustrating my invention, in the several figures of which like parts are similarly designated, Figure 1 is a perspective view of one form of framing mine-timbers in accordance with my invention. Fig. 2 is a top plan View illustrating a part of the timbers shown in Fig. 1. Fig.3 is a perspective view, the logs separated and illustrating the manner of assembling the timbers. Fig. 4 is aperspective view ofajoint formed bya post, cap, and girth in accordance with my invention. Fig. 5 shows the parts of Fig. 4: separated. Fig. 6 is an elevation of a post. Fig. '7 is an elevation of a cap. Fig. 8 is an elevation of a girth. Fig. 9 is a diagrammatic view illustrating my method of cutting or sawing the timbers.

I have shown my invention as applied to logs, and referring now more particularly to Figs. 4.- to S, a is the post, each end Z) of which is of the form of a truncated pyramid, the inclined sides of which are at an angle of fortyfive degrees to the axis of the log.

'0 is a cap having its sides cut in four planes at right angles to one another and also at an angle offorty-five degrees and further provided with a substantially square tenon d, having two opposite parallel flat faces 6 of greater depth than the adjacent parallel faces f. By reason of their functions in forming the joint I designate the faces e as top and bottom and the facesfas shoulders.

g is a girth also having its ends cnt in four planes at right angles to each other and at an angle of forty-five degrees, and opposite sides of the two ends are provided withflat faces h, which form end tenons t', the faces 7t likewise beingfunctionally top and bottom and the extremities of the ends being planes and adapted to abut flush against the tenoned ends of adjacent cap-logs.

No matter whether the various timbers are of the same or different sizes they may be placed in position to form suitable framing, and perfectly-secure joints,capable of distributing the strains throughout the whole area of the component members joined, are obtained. As illustrated in Figs.1, 2, and 3, the posts may be set up vertically in any suitable Way and the girths and caps laid on them, so that their tenons in effect interlock one with the other and with the ends of the posts, and the inclined sides match with one another, the perimeters of the beveled sides of the caps and girths being substantially coextensive in contact with the perimeters of the posts, and thus being supported and guarded against splitting by the pressure or strain to which they may be subjected, and, as indicated in Figs. 1 and 2, this framing maybe built up to any desired extent and the same sort of joints formed throughout. By reference to Figs. 2 and 4 it will be apparent how it is preferred to assemble the post, girth, and cap in fitting the timbers together to support the walls and back of a stope.

In producing posts, caps, and girths in accordance with my invention I have found that by a simple arrangement of four cooperating saws the ends of the posts, caps, and girths may be expeditiously and accurately constructed, so that these parts may be assembled without hand-trimming. As illustrated in Fig. 9, two of the saws are arranged parallel, as atj 7c, and the other two saws Z and m may be arranged at an angle of forty-five degrees to the saws j and k and so that their cuts practically intersect with the cuts of the last-named saws. For cutting the ends of all posts the logs are fed to the saws Z and m until their extreme ends are substantially in the plane of the line A A, when opposite sides of the log will be cut, and after that is done the log is given a quarter-turn, so as to present the uncut portions in the plane of the line A A, and the remaining two cuts are then made. Either one or both ends of the post may be treated in the same way, in accordance with the use to be made of the post. In cutting the girth the log has its end stopped substantially in the plane of the line B B, and

after the two inclined sides 1; 2' are made or cut by the saws Z and 'm the end of the log is moved to the position indicated by the line C C, and the saws 7' and then cut the top and bottom It 72, while the saws Z and m are cutting the bevels. In forming the cap by moving the end of the log substantially to the plane of the line D D the parallel shoulders ff are cut by the sawsj and k, and the bevels behind the said shoulders are cut by the saws Z and m, and subsequently the top and bottom of the cap are cut by the same saws by moving the timber substantially to the plane E E. Thus it will be seen that the ends of the various timbers may be cut by four saws occupying a fixed position, the difference in the joint-framing being determined by the horizontal position in which the end of the timber is held when being run through the saws. This of course greatly cheapens the construction of the framing-machine and at the same time renders mistakes or inaccuracies infitting almost impossible.

It is possible to cut the sticks in accordance with this invention by means of the four fixed saws arranged, essentially, as shown in Fig. 9 without any adjustment of the saws other than that required to compensate for wear.

It will be observed that in timbering a mine in accordance with this invention the joints are formed of round timber in which the shoulders lying back of the tenons are all cut at an angle of forty-five degrees and disposed in such a manner that six sticks may meet in a common joint, as shown in Fig. l, and have full and uniform bearings throughout the full thickness of the several sticks, thereby securing the full strength of the timber to resist strains from every direction and also assisting in maintaining the alinement and position of the timbers with regard to each other.

While forty-five degrees is the practical angle at which to cut the meeting ends of the sticks, of course I do not wish to be understood as limiting my invention literally to that angle.

What I claim is 1. Mine-timbers comprising a post having a truncated pyramidal end, a girth having its ends beveled and terminating in a two-sided tenon, and a cap having its ends beveled and provided with a four-sided tenon, the top and bottom sides being deeper than the others.

2. Mine-timbers comprising a post having a truncated pyramidal end, a girth having its ends beveled and terminating in a two-sided tenon, and a cap having its ends beveled and provided with a four-sided tenon, the top v and bottom sides being deeper than the others, all combined to form joints having contact-surfaces practically coextensive with the perimeters of the timbers.

3. Mine-timbers comprising a post having its ends beveled in four convergent planes,

a girth likewise beveled and each end having a tenon with flat top and bottom, and a cap beveled in four convergent planes and each end having a tenon provided with flat top and bottom and lateral shoulders.

4. A mine-timbering cap-log, having each of its ends beveled and terminating in a tenon having top and bottom of greater area than its sides, said sides constituting shoulders.

5. A mine-ti mbering girth-log, having each of its ends beveled and terminating in a tenon having fiat top and bottom, beveled sides, and a plane extremity adapted to abut against the tenoned ends of cap-logs.

6. A round timber-joint comprising a post having an end in the form of a truncated I fixed saws appropriately arranged, substanpyramid, a cap also having four inclined sides tially as herein set forth. 1c

and a tenon provided with top and bottom In testimony whereof I have hereunto set and shoulders, and agirth also having four inmy hand this 9th day of October, A. D. 1901. clined sides and a tenon having top and bottom, the sides of these three members and Witnesses: the tenons being capable of being cut by ap- LOUIS T. SICKA, propriately feeding the timbers to a gang of LEONARD G. BIGNELL.

DAVID W. BRUNTON. 

